Rice and beans for a frugal food budget [View all]

[Kaleva]

Last edited Thu May 30, 2019, 01:57 PM - Edit history (1)

I like to cook and am always looking for new recipes. I am also really stringy when it comes to spending money on food and I am also a mild prepper. Being frugal and prepping kind of go hand in hand for me. I like to buy when items are on sale and/or I have coupons and I like to stock which reduces the trips to town to shop. Meals based on rice and beans covers all the bases.

Variety of meals - There are lots and lots of recipes on the internet for rice and beans meals. Most are simple to make with just basic ingredients.

Frugal - Rice and canned or dried beans are inexpensive as are the seasonings and other ingredients.

Prepping - White rice, canned or dried beans, seasonings and other ingredients have a reasonably long shelf life requiring no more then shelf space to store. As long as one has water and a heat source, delicious and nutritious meals can be had.

In this thread, I'm going to post some basic rice and bean recipes preceded by a list of ingredients needed to make them and also a recipe to make Adobo seasoning which is used in some recipes.

All the recipes I have so far call for canned beans but if one wishes to use dried beans instead, a slightly heaping 1/2 cup of uncooked dried beans is the equivalent of a 15 ounce can of beans.

Preparation and cooking of dried beans

Dry beans should be sorted to remove small stones or other objects. Check the beans, a handful at a time, and throw away dirt, small rocks, or beans that are broken, discolored, or shriveled. Once sorted, place beans in a strainer and rinse a few times under cold running water. Place the beans in a pot and add water to cover the beans. Dry beans will soak up liquid and can double or triple in size, so make sure you add plenty of water.

OVERNIGHT SOAK METHOD

Make sure you use a large enough pot since beans expand to double or triple their size when soaked and cooked.1 CUP DRY BEANS MAKES ABOUT 3 CUPS COOKED BEANS.
1. Place beans in a pot and cover with water at least 3 inches above the beans.
2. Soak overnight. Drain the soaked beans; rinse with clean water and drain again.
3. Add 3 cups clean water for every 1 cup of dry beans.
4. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down to low, and cook slowly until tender – about 2 hours.
5. You may need to add more water during cooking. The beans are now ready to use in recipes that call for cooked or canned beans.

QUICK SOAK METHOD(to use beans the same day)

1. Place beans in a pot and cover with water at least 3 inches above the beans.
2. Bring to boil and boil for 2 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat, cover, and let the beans soak in the water for about an hour. The beans are now ready to use in recipes that call for cooked or canned beans.